Marketing Your Library’s Physical Space

Marketing Your Library’s Physical SpaceSigns, displays & collections…Oh My!

Think Marketing Asan experiment, think about the one product that you would like more people to use in your library. Then answer these two questions: 1. Who is going to use this product? 2. What need is it filling? M Word Blog 9/10/08

Does your Library look like this? Wichita City Library Bookmobile (1925)Rutherford B.HayesPresidentialLibrary (1952) Oxnard Public Library (date unknown)

When it could look like this…Seattle Public Library, WA Mount Laurel Library, NJ Kendallville Public Library, IN Allen County Public Library, IN

The BIG Question…Isn’t all about money?

Sensory Perception Audit (SPA) What is it? Who conducts this audit? How to conduct the audit?

SPA Continued Big Picture (before you begin)  Who is the target market?  What is the lifestyle of the target market?  Can you describe your library’s style in three words or less?  What kind of atmosphere does the building and surrounding area convey?

SPA Continued Outside  Curb Appeal and Traffic Flow • Parking Lot & Walkways • Book Drop Access • Grounds  Entryways • Signage • Waiting Areas • Information Center • Traffic Flow

SPA Continued Inside  Public Services Landscape • Circulation • AV • Other Public Areas  Target Market Landscapes • Youth • Teens • Adult  Internal Customer Landscape

SPA Concluded Next Steps

Bookstore Model What is the appeal?  Location  Welcome!  Layout & signage  Food, drink and entertainment What can we learn?

Smell & Music Scent Marketing  Odor associations • Cinnamon, coffee, apples • Orange • Lemon • Wood Music  Affects on purchases/check-outs and quantity  Target Market

Food & Drink Already in many libraries Policies

Signage Color Contrast Font/Shape  Rule of 25 Finish Pictograms Nova Scotia, Canada Industry standards • ADA standards

Signage Instructional  Describes behaviors, rules, etc. Way-finding  Knowing where you are, how you got there and how to get out Identification  Identifies something (staff person’s desk, vending area, meeting room)

Lighting Brightness Be aware of glare Create “areas” in the library

Technology Blogs Wikis RSS feeds Social Networking

Merchandising Library Layout  Power Aisles  Traffic Patterns Collection Organization  Dewey-less plan  Popular genre break-out • Booklists (If you like…)

Merchandising Displays  Recommendations  Frequency  POCO  Spice up your displays

Merchandising: the New Jersey Model Trading Spaces program  New spaces  Display areas  Self check stations  Morning briefings  Greeters

Merchandising The Act of Merchandising & attractive visual display  New Jersey • ALL staff Full time staff/Part time staff • Key factors  Displays full  Mix spines & covers  15 books per shelf minimum  No empty wall slats • Mess = Success

Merchandising

Merchandising: New Jersey Continued Layers of service  Info desk  Phones  Greeters

Mount Laurel PL, NJ

Greeters Basics  1 hour shifts  ALL staff What they do… What they don’t do…  A S K method

Staff Involvement Communication  Planning, implementing, maintenance  Talking Points (NJ) Recommendations  Walkabouts (NJ) Training& Cross Training Experts/hobbies

Patron Satisfaction Ask!  What do they want their library to be?  What type of services do they wish to have available? Communicate!

Patron Communication

Third Place Itisn’t home, it isn’t work, it is a “third place” What makes a third place?  Casual, welcoming/inviting  Social, comfortable

What are the experts saying?

Tech Impact on Libraries? Physical footprint of the collection reduced by at least 50 percent Majority of reference questions will be answered through Internet Q and A sites No longer be reference desks or reference offices in the library. Ebooks and ebook readers will be the standard. A large number of libraries will no longer have local OPACs. Logan Ludwig, PhD Loyola University, Chicago

10 Simple Tips Have windows professionally cleaned inside & out. Add small flower bouquets at each service desk Play Celtic, harp, jazz, flute or guitar music softly over PA system Change reading lamps to pink light bulbs. The light is softer and easier on the eyes Fill high ceilings and large wall space, hang banners or other lightweight fabrics

10 Simple Tips Continued Check the dumpster area, clean up broken glass or debris Place artificial greenery around tops of bookshelves, this adds texture and color Clean all countertops with ammonia or vinegar- based cleaner “Wallpaper” behind service desk with solid color wrapping paper, creating a unified focus throughout the library Check high-touch areas in need of cleaning or replacing Julia Cooper, MLS, MBA Marketing Consultant, Ohio

Free or Cheap & Easy Spine out/Face out Cleaning (shelves, keyboard, light switches) Painting Sensory Perception Audit Greeters Signage updates Collection organization

Recommended Sites http://themwordblog.blogspot.com http://www.sjrlc.org/tradingspaces/ http://in.webjunction.org/marketing http://www.elearnlibraries.com/index.html

Works CitedCooper, Julia. “How to Evaluate Your Library’s Physical Environment.” Marketing Library Services, May/June 2007. http://www.infotoday.com/MLS/may07/Cooper.shtml. Accessed 9 July 2008LaPerriere, Jenny and Trish Christiansen. “Work it Baby! Merchandising to Increase Circulation.” http://www.cal-webs.org/handouts05/WorkItBaby.pdf. Accessed 15 August 2008.Ludwig, Logan. “Designing Libraries for the Electronic Age.” CD-Rom from June 3, 2008 presentation.Rippel, Chris. “What libraries can learn from bookstores: Applying bookstore design to public libraries.” http://www.ckls.org/~crippel/marketing/bookstore.html. Accessed 9 July 2008.

Works CitedSouth Jersey Regional Library Cooperative. “Trading Spaces Project” http://www.sjrlc.org/tradingspaces/. Accessed 15 August 2008.Woodward, Jeanette. Creating the Customer Driven Library: Building on the Bookstore Model. Chicago: American Library Association, 2005.Vlahos, James. "Scent and Sensibility.“ The New York Times. September 9, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09. Accessed 15 August 2008.

Questions? Jessica Jacko Indiana State LibraryProfessional Development Office 317-650-8492 jjacko@library.in.gov

Marketing Your Library’s Physical Space

by Jessica Jacko

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